Garret walked up next and sure enough, the coach came out of the opposing dugout again. He signaled for a pitcher and player change. The lefty came back in from the outfield and the pitcher went to the dugout as an extra player came out to go to the outfield.
“Two outs.” Coach Luis reminded me. “You take off no matter what.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “But like…when?” I looked up at him.
Coach Luis pursed his lips, looking like he was holding back a laugh. “I guess whenever you feel comfortable.”
I scratched my neck. “It’s a lefty, Coach.” I was never comfortable with a pitcher that could see me at all times.
Coach Luis didn’t hold back this time and laughed. “Alright, kid. I understand. Let’s do this; leave when Garret makes contact. With two outs, there’s no sense in trying to get you to steal.”
My shoulders relaxed.
The umpire called for the game to resume and Garret stepped into his batter’s box. This time he took a more patient approach, letting the pitch throw his curves freely. Strike. Ball. Ball. Strike. 2-2. On the fifth pitch, I could see Garret adjust his swing and did his best to reach the ball. He made better contact, hitting a fly ball to center. I took off. I tagged second base and on the way to third, I could hear the groans. No doubt, his fly ball was caught. I slowed to a jog and went back to the dugout.
“Good decision-making.” Coach acknowledged me when I came back in. “Next time you’re up and if we still have the lead, you take your chance.”
I nodded and went back to my bag.
Noah was finishing getting his shin guards back on. “Another reason I wouldn’t want to be a catcher; you’re constantly having to take these things on and off. It’s okay at home because I just wear it for an hour straight.” He complained but he didn’t sound truly upset.
We separated and went to our positions with the rest of the team. Dave did his practice pitches and soon the cleanup hitter stepped up to the plate. Dave got him to strike out last time, but now he showed patience as he worked the count to full. Dave had to stay in the zone, unwilling to face Noah’s complaints if he walked the guy. The cleanup hitter got a piece of a pitch and smacked it high into the air. Dalton backpedaled to center and I flat out went to second base. I knew I wasn’t the type to track down a high fly into the shallow outfield like that.
Garret came sprinting in. “Mine! MINE!” Dalton peeled away just as Garret started his slide and made the catch before the ball could touch the grass. Out.
“I could have caught that myself.” I heard Dalton in the distance.
My eyes widened.
Garret got up and tossed the ball to Dalton. “Yea. Sure.” He sounded perfunctory. Garret started walking back to center field.
Dalton turned my way and threw me the ball. I avoided eye contact and threw it to Dave on the mound. I didn’t know whether Dalton was just saying that to let Garret know or whether he was mad that he was called off. Either way, I wanted no part of it.
Dave dealt with the next two batters perfectly, getting two more strikeouts added to his stat sheet today. Him and Noah strolled back to the dugout together as the rest of us jogged it in.
“Dalton.” Garret called out. “Hold on a minute.” The two of them stayed outside the dugout for a short conversation.
I didn’t stick around to overhear. I just went to my bag, took my glove off, and sat down.
“What’s going on with them two?” Noah asked, nodding his head their way. He took off his chest protector before sitting down.
I quickly told him about the small exchange after the fly ball.
Noah snorted, but held himself back from saying anything as the two came back to the dugout.
Bottom of the fifth. Jason and Korrey left the dugout first. Dalton was in Mitchell’s spot in the lineup so he also got ready to go out for his at bat. As soon as Jason hit into a groundout to first and Dalton had to leave to go out on deck, Noah waved Garret over.
Garret raised an eyebrow and walked over. “Shouldn’t you be hanging out with your pitcher and talking strategy?” That’s what most catchers did so I looked to Noah too.
Noah rolled his eyes. “That’s lame. Plus, Dave is already in the hole.” He lowered his voice. “I wanted to know what you said to Dalton.”
Garret glanced at me and figured out that I must have told him. He lowered his voice too. “I’m only telling you because you’re the vice-captain. Anybody else and I wouldn’t gossip. Basically I told Dalton to keep his attitude in check. He was thinking that I wouldn’t have called you off if you were in short. I told him that wouldn’t matter because it didn’t happen.” He gave a small shrug. “Then I laid it out for him. One, I’m the center fielder, I get to make all the calls on the grass. Two, I’m the captain and I know what’s best. Three, I’m the better player.”
“You even found time to brag about yourself.” Noah chuckled.
“Is it a lie?” Garret shot back.
“Okay. Go away. I don’t care since you already spoke to him.” Noah waved him away.
“Such attitude.” Garret grinned yet he still walked away, going over to talk to the injured Mitchell.
Korrey got a groundout to short and Dalton struck out to end the inning. Noah put the chest protector back on and grabbed the face mask as we headed out. He beat out Dave who was left on deck in the offensive but it only took an extra few seconds before he went out too.
They continued to work well together with Dave not having to shake off any of Noah’s signs. If it wasn’t for the batter, I would have thought I was watching them work out in the backyard like normal. Dave struck out batters seven and eight bringing his total to seven so far. The ninth batter was a pinch hitter who had a little more luck, hitting a fly ball to left field. But Korrey was there to make the catch and end their half of the inning.
The dugout was a little more muted as everyone got back in. Dave was the first to switch his gear and get back out there, ready to lead off. Sean left for the on deck circle too.
Noah, beside me, worked on taking off all the catching gear. He would bat for sure this inning.
“Don’t give Dave a hard time if he gets out.” I reminded Noah. “You don’t want to rile him up before…” I trailed off, not wanting to be the one to jinx it.
Noah grinned. “Yea, yea, I know. I’m more worried about myself right now. My streak is at risk here.”
Oh. Yea. I nodded in understanding. I liked to do more for the team like driving in runs and Noah had more individualistic goals like getting on base every game.
Unsurprisingly, Dave struck out to start us off. No one said anything about it and let him walk back to his spot on the bench in peace. No one wanted to be responsible for taking him out of his pitch perfect mindset just before he took on the seventh inning.
The dugout didn’t stay quiet for long though. We roared to life when Sean blasted a ball to deep center field. We only got louder when the ball cleared the fence and bumped the score to 2-0.
Noah went up next. Bryce was on deck. And I was in the hole.
Noah attacked the very first pitch he saw, hitting it to right field for a base hit. He stood on first, looking eagerly at Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller gave him the green light to go ahead and steal. Bryce had to pay attention in the batter’s box and try not to foul any of the early pitches.
I moved out to the on deck circle.
Bryce left the first pitch pass for a called strike. He glanced at Noah at first, but didn’t make any unnecessary moves. Yet, we could tell what he meant. Noah should go on the next pitch. Noah was relaxed with his lead, not going too far off the bag so as not to grab any special attention from the pitcher. However, as soon as the pitcher started his motion and lifted his leg, Noah bolted for second. Bryce took a called strike two. The catcher jumped up, but ultimately didn’t throw to second. He chose to give the ball back to his pitcher.
Now Bryce was cornered at 0-2. He had to defend the plate and swing at anything close. Which led him to reach out for an outside pitch, hitting a fly ball to right. The right fielder backed up a little for it. Made the catch. Noah tagged up and took off. The right fielder hurried his throw straight to third and it went wide. Noah slid into third and the third baseman missed the ball. Noah didn’t hesitate to scramble up on his feet and sprint home. The third baseman got the ball and threw to his catcher at home plate. Noah started his slide and the tag came down.
“Safe!” The umpire declared. Bryce went to help Noah up and the two went back to the dugout happily.
I was happy too. With Noah getting to third, I had just started thinking that I should play it safe and drive him in. But with him doing it all with his legs, I had the opportunity to try for a homer. I stepped up to the righty’s box and got set. The pitcher looked agitated from how this inning was turning out for him. He was another righty from the bullpen that didn’t seem to have a breaking ball. He threw his fastball around the zone, getting to a full count as I fouled a couple of pitches off. When he finally threw me one nearly right down the middle, I took my shot, pulling the ball down the left field line. I ditched my bat and ran for first.
After rounding first, I had a good view of the left fielder getting to the fence. He timed his jump and snatched my ball that was about to go over and brought it down. A spectacular catch. My jaw dropped as his team headed for their dugout.
“Just a little short.” Mr. Miller told me as we went back together.
“I thought I had it.” I frowned. Maybe I really do need to spend more time in the gym. That was a good pitch and a good swing.
“Brush it off and focus.” Mr. Miller patted me on the shoulder. “One more inning then you can think it over.”
I nodded. “Right.” I hurried through the dugout, switched my gear, and hurried back out. I didn’t want any of my issues to cause Dave to have an issue. He was three outs away from a perfect game.
It was hard to think that just over a week ago, Garret had his and now Dave’s comeback was going so smoothly. I tried my best to keep focused as the inning started.
Back at the top of the lineup. Dave dealt with the guy cleanly, getting him to chase on an 0-2 count, getting his eighth strikeout of the game. Batter two wasn’t the same at all. He found a perfect pitch to pull to left field. A line drive. I moved to second base to cover and my heart started to pound. Korrey sprinted in and dove for it. He slid in the grass and held his glove up. The ball was caught. I let out a breath I was holding. Two outs. One to go. The third batter made contact the previous two times. Fly out to center and a grounder to short. He repeated the latter and it was up to Dalton. He made the catch, transferred the ball to his throwing hand and threw it to Sean, beating out the runner.
We swarmed to the mound, heading for Dave. But Dave was headed for Noah. Noah jumped and Dave caught him, swinging him around happily. This time, I didn’t even stress or think as I joined the pair of brothers. I was probably happier than the both of them.
